


Hospital Rooms and Life

by Rivehn



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22165192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivehn/pseuds/Rivehn
Summary: Prompt by notaauthor. Modern AU. ASL. Sabo and Ace are pretty surprised by all the people who show up in Luffy's hospital room, when he gets into a car accident.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Koala/Sabo (One Piece)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Hospital Rooms and Life

“Portgas-san? My name is Kawakami Kizaru. I’m a doctor. I’m calling from East Blue Medical Centre. Monkey D. Luffy-san has been in an accident. He’s in critical condition." 

Ace stared at his shaking hands. Not really noticing the sudden silence in the room as Marco and Thatch noticed him dropping his phone. Turning white in his shock he could only stare at the light shining up from the plastic rectangle, the woman on the line still talking. 

“Ace?" Marco gently shook his younger brother. “Ace, what’s going on? Who is that yoi?" Ace nearly flinched at the reminder that the doctor was still on the line. “H-Hospital.” He choked out. “Luffy has... Luffy has been in an accident." 

Thatch gently scooped up the phone from the floor. “Hello? Can you tell me all the relevant details and where to find him in the hospital, Sensei?" He asked, keeping a cool head. 

“Are you currently with Portgas-san? Is he alright?” A low feminine voice asked gently. Thatch looked over at his pale brother, who was gently being guided towards the couch by Marco. “He seems to be in shock, but otherwise he should be fine." He said slowly. 

The doctor sighed. “Well that is the best I can expect under these circumstances. Monkey-san is in stable condition. He’s currently in the Intensive Care Unit in East Blue Medical Centre. His vital signs are steady and promising, but if he remains unconscious much longer he will officially be in a coma. We won’t know if he’ll pull through alright if that happens. He was hit by a car, his wounds are very serious." 

Thatch inhaled sharply. No wonder Ace was in shock. The whole gang knew that he loved that kid, even if he didn’t see him as much since he got a part time job with the Whitebeards. 

“Alright, we’ll bring Ace to the hospital, he’ll want to see Luffy as soon as possible.” Thatch said with a calm he didn’t feel. Ace needed them to be steady now. 

“You can ask someone at the front desk for his room number.” The doctor said. “I’ll be contacting Outlook Sabo-san as well, as he is the other emergency contact listed for Monkey-san.” She sighed lowly, obviously tired and sad to even be making a call like this. 

Thatch decided that he liked her kindness. “Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. We’ll do everything we can for Monkey-san, he’s very loved.” The woman said, puzzling him briefly, of course they all knew that Ace had a mild brother complex, even if he didn’t get to see him as much anymore, but how did this woman know that Luffy was loved? 

“Arigatou, Sensei. We’ll be at the hospital soon." “Good luck.” Then he heard the dial tone. 

Finally regaining some colour, Ace was staring at Thatch with an almost alarming intensity. “What did she say?" 

“He’s stable, but he might slip into a coma and they don’t know what will happen then. He was hit by a car. His injuries are very serious." He said, deciding to just mention all the facts at once, like ripping of a band aid. 

Ace paled a little again turning white as a sheet, but didn’t seem to be going into shock again. “Okay, okay, I need to, to go to the hospital, Sabo will be coming as well. I don’t want him to wake up alone. I don’t want him to be alone in the hospital at all. I’ll need to talk to Pops and get some time off from work and... and...” He mumbled to himself. 

Marco finally spoke up as well, kissing his forehead gently. “Don’t worry about it, Ace, I’ll take you there and Thatch can call Pops to explain everything. Just go put on your coat, we’ll take care of everything else yoi." Thatch nodded, nearly pushing the younger man towards the hallway. “Go, we’ll handle the rest." 

* * *

“Outlook-san? My name is Kawakami Kizaru, I’m a doctor. Monkey D. Luffy-san has been in a car accident. He’s being treated here in East Blue Medical Centre, in the ICU. His wounds are serious, but he is stable.” Sabo could feel himself slipping into a different mindset. Cold and detached, to protect himself from the terrible news. 

“What sort of wounds? Where can I find his room, have you contacted anybody else about his accident?" He questioned the female on the line clearly and concisely. Trying to bury his emotions beneath artificial calm. He needed to be calm. Ace would be freaking out as soon as he knew and he needed to get to the hospital, and figure out if Dragon-san had been contacted. 

“Monkey-san only has two emergency contacts, I’ve already contacted Portgas-san. He was with somebody else, who mentioned that he’d be taking Portgas-san to the hospital. Monkey-san has several very deep cuts over his torso and he was subjected to a lot of blunt force trauma. His head seemed to be fine, but he isn’t waking up even now that the anaesthesia has worn off. If that goes on much longer, he will officially be in a coma and we’re uncertain how he will fair then." The doctor said, calmly answering his questions. 

Sabo swallowed. “Thank you for informing me, Kawakami-sensei, I’ll be there soon.” He clicked on the red phone on the screen. He turned towards Koala, his girlfriend, who was looking at him with concern. “Luffy has been in a car accident. It’s serious.” He said slowly. Dragging a hand through his blond curls distractedly he tried to figure out how to proceed. 

“Can you tell Dragon-san? Ace knows and is being driven to the hospital by one of the Whitebeards.” Koala nodded firmly. “I can inform Dragon-san, but I know how much you care for Luffy, so I’ll be going to the hospital with you. Do we need to inform anybody else?” 

Sabo froze in the door opening. He hadn’t seen Luffy much lately, and the last time they’d spoken the boy had rambled about Skypiea and meeting some jerk while he was there on his road trip who he had beaten up. Only later had the Revolution found out that the small island had been taken over by a dictator right under the nose of the World Government and that Luffy had defeated him. Saving everybody on that island from the man’s insane plan, which had been to make the island fly, which would have killed everybody there. 

The boy had only really known a few people when he was younger. Makino-san who had basically raised them all. Shanks, who had made quite an impression on a young Luffy and who he kept in touch with ever since and Dadan, who had sheltered Luffy Ace and him, somewhat grudgingly but who he was pretty sure did love them all. 

“Makino-san, Dadan and Shanks I think. I... don’t really know if he knows other people now...” The blond said, ashamed to realise that he didn’t know much about his little brother’s life anymore. They saw each other almost every day, but with Luffy still in school while Ace had a job in Whitebeard’s company and he himself working for Dragon, they didn’t get a chance to talk much when they were all at home at the same time. Everyone was just so busy now... 

Koala’s looked at him calmly, like an anchor in the storm. “Allright, I will call them. Don’t worry about it, go get in the car. I’ll drive us.” Sabo nodded distractedly, worried out of his mind about his little brother. 

* * *

Ace immediately called out when he noticed the blond in the dark blue coat and the top hat walking towards the hospital doors with an orangette on his arm. “Sabo, Koala. Wait.” He picked up the pace to catch up with brother, dragging Marco along with him. 

Sabo turned around with Koala when he heard the call, waiting for Ace and Marco to catch up so they could enter the hospital together. 

“Do you know anything more about the accident?" Ace asked, somewhat scared of the answer but needing to know. Sabo shook his head. “No, I have no idea what happened either. Koala called Dadan, Makino-san and Shanks, but let’s hurry. I don’t want him to wake up alone.” He said, trying to remain optimistic, not wanting to even consider that Luffy might really slip into a coma. “They’re trying to make it here as soon as possible, but Shanks is in the New World, and Dadan and Makino-san don’t have transport right now." 

Heading towards the reception, the four of them naturally fell silent. Nobody was really in a talkative mood. “Excuse me, can you tell me what room Monkey D. Luffy is in?" Sabo asked the receptionist politely. The young woman promptly answered him without even looking at her computer screen. 

“Room 315, it’s on the third floor. Go to the right behind the reception desk, take the stairs or the elevator at the end of the hallway and then when you reach the third floor go left.” 

Slightly confused by why she seemed to know the answer when this was East Blue’s biggest hospital and they likely had hundreds of patients Sabo nodded, the four of them setting of towards Luffy’s hospital room. 

* * *

For a split-second Ace was sure they had the wrong room, before he looked at the figure on the only hospital bed in the room, recognizing his baby brother. Luffy’s room was already filled with a colourful assembly of people. 

Sabo Koala and Marco followed him, looking just as surprised as he felt now that they were also confronted by the full room. Ace had known in theory that his little brother had friends of course, but it hadn’t really registered. Worse, half of them looked like criminals. 

A black-haired woman with bright blue eyes stepped towards them. That’s Nico Robin, Ace thought, his eyes widening in surprise. How did Luffy know this extremely dangerous woman? The government had been hunting her for over 2 decades already by now. 

“You must be Ace-san and Sabo-san. Luffy told us about you." She stated softly. Ace spotted shimmering silver trails down her cheeks. Clearly, she’d been crying. “I’m sorry that we have to meet like this." 

He swallowed roughly. “I’m sorry too." Ace looked around the filled hospital room. “Who are all these people?" 

The green haired man who sat beside the bed, holding one of Luffy’s (too pale, looking so small now) hands nearly snarled at him. “We’re his friends, and if you had spent a bit more time with Luffy, you’d have known that." He was carrying a collection of three swords. 

A young woman with fierce orange hair hit him with a lightning quick strike. “Oi Zoro, shut up. You know Luffy loves his brothers.” 

The man scowled. “Don’t hit me, Witch.” He glared at her, before turning back to watch Luffy, seemingly content to go back to ignoring them all. 

The woman sighed. “I’m Nami, that’s Zoro. I guess I can introduce you to the others." Somewhat contrary to her defence of them, she didn’t look like she approved of the brothers. Her brown eyes glaring at them stoically. 

Nami had a bright blue tattoo partially visible from beneath her short-sleeved t-shirt. She seemed to be a pretty young lady and Ace wasn’t quite sure where she would have crossed paths with his free-spirited wild little brother. Then he reconsidered. She had hit the stoic man with the swords after all. She was obviously a spitfire and was that blue metal beneath her skirt? Ace would bet money on that being some kind of weapon. 

Casually flipping her long hair over her shoulder Nami started pointing out the people in the room. “That’s Nico Robin, I saw that you recognized her. Don’t worry, she’s innocent....” Nami smirked. “Mostly anyway.” 

Sabo stared at the wanted woman for a second, before humming lowly. “Ah, is that so." He already knew, the Revolution that Dragon-san was running against the corrupt government had a vast spy network after all. Still, it was reassuring to hear. 

Then she pointed out a tall man with bright blue hair. Broad shouldered and with gleaming metal hands, Ace had no idea how his baby brother, who was still in his last year of high school had even met the man who seemed to be in his late twenties already. 

“That’s Franky.” Nami didn’t seem inclined to elaborate on who he was. The man stood in a, quite Frank-ly, weird pose. “It’s Suuuuper nice to meet you." Mood dropping faster than a rock when he glanced at Luffy he then embraced Robin, pulling her onto his lap sideways. Settling down with her in a chair. 

Then she pointed to a young man who was around Luffy’s age, who was crying and still trying to tell another even younger boy that Luffy would be fine. “The one with the enormous nose is Usopp. The kid is called Chopper.” Nami stated plainly. “Oi, Nami, there’s nothing wrong with my nose.” The curly haired kid yelled. 

Slumping over to lean his face very gently against Luffy’s legs, the kid muttered against the white hospital sheets. “Please be alright Luffy... Please...” He seemed to be the youngest and had fluffy brown hair, and a tall pink top hat of all things. 

Ace was really starting to wonder how all these people even knew Luffy. Half of them weren’t even the right age for a meeting in school to be plausible and the rest looked... Unusual. Most of them seemed like criminals and many were carrying weapons. 

He tried not to be judgemental, after all the Whitebeards were a gang and Ace had certainly never cared much for the law because the World Government was very corrupt, but he really hoped all these people were good friends to Luffy... Despite being older and many looking like career criminals. 

Then Nami pointed to a tall man occupying a chair in a shadowed corner of the room. He seemed to be carrying an oversized katana and had a lot of tattoos. “That’s Law, don’t let the grumpy look fool you, he rushed to the hospital and did most of the surgery himself." 

Now Marco piped up. “Surgery? Are you a doctor then?" Law snorted. “I’m the youngest qualified surgeon in the country...” 

Nami smirked, it wasn’t a comforting sight. “He’s nicknamed the Surgeon of Death.” 

Pulling their attention away from the creepy doctor who had apparently operated on Luffy she pointed towards a skinny immensely tall older man. “That’s Brook." The man stopped staring at Luffy to meet their gaze. “Luffy’s brothers. Nice to meet you... yohohoho.” He seemed like a cheerful fellow, even though it all came out somewhat subdued now. 

Then Brook looked at Koala. “May I see your panties?" Sabo twisted to look incredulously at the pervert. Koala however beat him to the punch with a reply. “No.” She stated firmly. 

Brook only laughed at that, then he seemed to dismiss them to look at Luffy again. He promptly produced a violin from somewhere and started playing a soothing though somewhat haunting lullaby. 

An incredibly beautiful lady stepped forward. “I’m Boa Hancock." She stated briefly, before turning away from them, dismissing them as unworthy to go gently hold Luffy’s hand. 

Ace’s eyes widened. What was the leader of an all-female gang who was known for hating men doing here? Holding Luffy’s hand and looking extremely worried for him even? 

Nami pointed towards the last unintroduced male. A blond with a weird swirly eyebrow who seemed uncomfortably familiar. Then it hit Sabo. That was a signature physical trait of the Vinsmoke assassin family. “That’s Sanji.” 

Then she gestured towards the last unintroduced female. “You probably already know Nefertari Vivi.” She stated calmly. 

Introductions done, she stepped away from them to pick up her quiet conversation with Princess Vivi of Alabasta again. 

Somewhat stunned Ace turned towards the blond who was probably a Vinsmoke. “How do you all know Luffy?” 

Sanji looked at him calmly. “Ask them yourself. I won’t speak for any of the others." He sighed, looking at the freckled male tiredly, rubbing his eyes like he was warding off a headache. “If you really want to know I guess I can tell you how I met Luffy." 

Guiding Ace and Marco towards the window, he cracked it open and started smoking a cigarette. Noticing Marco and Ace’s almost palpable judgement, the blond rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it, I already asked Law if it was okay if I smoked near a window. The hospital policy forbids it, but like this there is no actual medical risk for Luffy." 

He frowned. “I know that you have no idea who we are, but we care for Luffy too, every time that you couldn’t be there because you were chasing your own dream, or you were at university or in Sabo-san's case with Dragon’s revolution, we were there. He doesn’t mind and we understood as well, that the bond you all share as brothers will never be threatened just because you spend most of your time apart now." 

He sighed, looking at Ace and Marco as well, with a very serious expression. “However, we were there instead and we care just as much for Luffy. So even if you are surprised by our presence don’t just assume that you care the most and come in here like you are judging if we’re worthy of your baby brother." 

Turning to look out of the window the blond seemed to be ignoring them, before finally starting his tale. “I met Luffy a couple of years ago. He must have been only fourteen or so. I was sixteen." The blond smiled. “I met him while I still worked for Zeff in the Baratie. He was such a weird customer. I’ve never seen anybody eat as much as he does." 

“He decided that I should be the chef for his upcoming road trip and that I was now his friend." The blond blew out a circle of smoke, seeming lost in memories. “Then he proved it, by beating up the gang trying to rob the Baratie. He asked me what my dream was, like it was actually the most important thing, the only thing he really wanted to know about me." 

“Heh, I told him that I want to find All Blue, where all the Seas mix and every kind of fish can be found. Luffy smiled and said that of course I could do that, that I should go with him on his road trip, or even sailing with him and that we would definitely reach our dreams." 

Sanji blew a couple of smoke rings. “I’ve seen Luffy do a lot of impossible things. We’ve been traveling together every school vacation. He’s not fragile. Still, we’re all really worried this time. Usually Law just patches him up and he rarely loses consciousness even after battles." His eyebrows rose higher when he saw the startled looks on Ace and Marco’s faces when he mentioned the battles. 

“I guess with Luffy’s moronic way of explaining things, you would have heard something like: there was a jerk and I beat him up. I am still not sure if he is just messing with us or if things really are that simple for him... because by jerk, he usually means government sanctioned dictators, gang leaders, assassins and entire criminal organizations." 

Seeing Ace’s eyes nearly bugging out of his skull and seeing the shocked look on Marco’s face Sanji nearly giggled. “That was our response as well. But for Luffy it is really simple I think. He sees some jerk who is being incredibly cruel to someone who he considers a friend and therefore he stops them." The blond looked wistful for moment. “It’s incredibly really, no consideration for himself or anything even remotely resembling survival instincts, but he’s really an amazing friend. An amazing person." 

Ace dithered for a moment before deciding to just follow Luffy’s lead and bluntly asked. “Are you a Vinsmoke?" Sanji’s one visible eye hardened. “Not anymore. Luffy saved me from them, I’m never going back." He lit up another cigarette. “I don’t want to talk about it." 

* * *

Sabo and Koala followed after Nami, wishing to ask some more questions. “Nami-san, can I ask you a couple of questions." The red head looked at the couple disinterestedly. “It’s not like I can stop you, so go ahead I guess." 

The bluenette princess settled a gentle hand on the redhead’s arm. “If you want to know anything you can ask me as well. We all care for Luffy." 

Sabo sighed, briefly rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the tension headache. “How did you meet Luffy, Nami-san?” He finally asked. 

“I’m from Cocoyashi." The redhead stated. “It was a fucked-up place for a while. Of course, the government hushed it all up. They always do. As a Revolutionary I would have expected you to know this.” She side eyed him briefly. “Maybe you already do. Still, if you don’t know how Luffy and I met. Then you have no idea what really happened." 

“Arlong seized our village, he was forcing us to buy our own lives, every month. Like we... somehow didn’t have the right to live. Like he was a goddamn god or something. All because he was descended from a different people, who were renowned for being generally stronger than humans.” 

Nami sighed, flashing a weak smile in Vivi’s direction when the princess gently rubbed her back. “I made a deal. To draw maps for Arlong and that I could buy the village for 100 million berries.” Bitterly biting her lip she added: “I was a fool, he was never going to let me leave." 

Trying to gather herself the Cartographer continued. “I met Luffy because he decided that I should join him on his Road Trip.” She snorted. “He thought I was cool and that I should be his navigator, since I could draw maps. I tried to explain that cartographer and navigator don’t necessarily go together, but since I actually am both I never quite convinced him." 

Nami grinned briefly. “Instead Luffy was just convinced that I must be especially awesome." Then her face twisted in guilt. “I joined him for a while, planning to rob him and to go back to my village. After the whole mess with Usopp and getting to know Sanji I felt really guilty. Luffy is just like a Sun barely contained in human form.” 

Rubbing away the beginnings of tears Nami continued. “But what could I do, Arlong essentially held my entire village hostage for my good behaviour. I was only allowed to roam free to create more maps for him." 

Nami smiled a watery smile, bright and sincere and warming her cold eyes to a gently amber gleam. “Luffy never gave up on me. I stole his car and his supplies. I pretended to hurt Usopp and generally behaved like I wanted him to leave, like I didn’t care. I was a real bitch to the others." 

She snorted. “He just ignored me, wasn’t even interested in my past really, because he could see that it was painful for me. When I finally asked him for help, because my village was going to confront Arlong and I didn’t know what to do anymore he immediately ran off to beat up Arlong for me. He just screamed to the heavens that of course he would help.” 

“In the end, Luffy defeated Arlong and destroyed my map room in Arlong Park. Because he somehow just knew that it had been my prison, that room was my worst nightmare and seeing it destroyed was amazing. Zoro, Sanji and even Usopp beat up most of Arlong’s officers. When the whole gang was defeated the authorities finally showed up. Too late to do anything useful of course, except maybe to drag them away as prisoners. Then they hushed it all up, because they weren’t the heroes, the Strawhat Road Trip Crew was." 

Nami grinned brightly. “Luffy is still considered a hero in Cocoyashi.” 

Sabo swallowed. Just what had Luffy been up to during his frequent Road Trips?! The boy took them every school holiday... 

“I’ve been his friend ever since, and his navigator for every Road Trip. My dream is to make an accurate World Map. Luffy immediately promised to take me everywhere of course, since his dream is to see the whole World." 

Nami smiled softly, gently. “I don’t know how far we’ll come, but I believe in him. He wants to be the freest person alive, we want it for him too." 

Koala grinned. “Thank you for telling us your story, Nami-san." Then she turned a little more serious. “I am sorry that, as the Revolution, we failed you. We had Cocoyashi marked as an information blackout, we should have investigated that.” She bowed deeply. 

Sabo spoke up as well. “I’m truly sorry as well, we were stretched thin covering too many places, but that is no excuse. I am deeply sorry that we never checked the situation even though we knew something strange was going on." He joined his girlfriend in bowing to the redhead. 

With a bitter tinge to her smile the Navigator answered. “That’s okay, I understand how logistically, trying to protect every civilian isn’t doable. You can’t fight the government and do their job for them all at the same time. Still, it’s incredibly disappointing, to know that the Revolution was aware something strange was going on but still did nothing.” 

With a raised eyebrow she continued. “Nobody minds the Revolution in Cocoyashi I think, but the Strawhats are our heroes, and we feel no love for the Government or the Revolution, we just want to be left alone now." 

Straightening up from his bow, Sabo replied slowly. “That is completely understandable. The Revolution promises to fix the corruption of the World Government, but we failed you just as surely as they did.” 

Vivi finally spoke up. “Then just agree to be neutral and start talking to each other as Sabo-san and Nami, instead of the Revolution and Cocoyashi." The bluenette smirked kindly. “Luffy only knows people after all, and we’re all here for him. He doesn’t care for politics at all.” 

With that the tension broke as they all snorted mildy. “Yeah Luffy has no respect for authority.” Sabo said. “I don’t think he’d care if someone were royalty.” 

Vivi smiled. “I can confirm that, he totally doesn’t.” The princess smiled wistfully. “It’s amazing actually. You have no idea how rare it is to be seen as Vivi, instead of Princess Vivi of Alabasta." 

“That’s Luffy alright, he’s a moron, but he’s also incredibly kind and sees right into the heart of things." Sabo stated somewhat proudly, that was his baby brother after all. 

* * *

Pulling a still somewhat shocked and horrified Ace into a hug Marco tried to wrap his head around it all. He had known about Luffy of course, Ace never quite managed to shut up about his kid brother, but somehow none of the Whitebeards had ever gotten around to meeting him. 

Ace sighed, leaning into Marco’s grounding heat for a moment. When the taller man kissed his forehead gently, he finally decided to face the room again. Looking at the teen who seemed to be just about Luffy’s age he tried to smile welcomingly. He wanted to get to know his brother’s friends after all. He really did have an extraordinarily long nose though... 

Usopp sighed, but having caught Ace’s momentary interest in him, he decided to go over. It was clear that Fire-Fist Ace did love his kid brother. Though he was kind of curious how the gang member had earned that particular nickname... 

“You’re Usopp right?" Ace asked, almost hesitantly. Sanji had a point, he had no right to judge them, they’d been there for Luffy a lot more than him lately. 

The curly haired teen nodded. “Yes, I am Usopp." He was somewhat subdued. Unlike normal he didn’t feel like spinning a wild tale for the two Whitebeards. 

“So how did you meet Luffy?” Marco asked him calmly. Since he seemed to be the same age as Luffy, he expected the usual answer. That they’d met in school. 

“I met Luffy when he visited my town, Syrup Village. He helped me stop Klahadore, or rather, Kuro, a scam artist and serial killer." Usopp grinned. “Luffy believed me, when nobody else did. Zoro and Nami also helped. Those three saved my village from Kuro’s men, and helped me save Kaya." 

Ace was horrified. “Serial killer?! Who is Kaya, and how did you stop the murderer, what do you mean saved your village?" 

Marco, always the calmer of the two, stepped in. “Maybe start from the beginning?" He suggested wryly. 

“Ah.. Haha." Usopp laughed uncomfortably. “Yes, I can do that.” 

“I love telling stories.” The boy said. “When my mom fell ill, I always tried to cheer her up by telling her that dad would definitely come. He was already in the New World with the Yonko Red-Haired Shanks by then though.” He sighed. “He never showed up of course. But anyway, that is when I started telling stories." 

Ace broke in dyly. “You mean lies, you’re a liar then.” 

Usopp flinched a tiny bit. “No no, stories, lies are somewhat malicious, I tell stories to cheer people up. I always told people in the village that my dad would come back, but they took it as a threat. It never happened anyway and they don’t believe anything I say now.” He looked briefly sad and frustrated. 

“I always tried to make time to visit Kaya. Her parents passed away some time ago, and she had to remain in bed because of her weak state. She was very depressed. She always cheered up when I told her my stories though. Kaya lives in the big mansion that oversees my village. She’s a wealthy heiress.” 

“Her butler, Klahadore, he hated me.” Usopp looked almost frightening with his face twisted into a cold mask. 

“I ran into Luffy on his first day in Syrup Village and tried to fool him.” Usopp grinned. “He fell for it too, of course Nami and Zoro didn’t and they all proceeded to ignore me, because Luffy wanted to go eat meat in the inn.” Ace grinned briefly at that. “Typical Luffy, he always wants meat." 

Usopp chortled at that. “Yeah, that is true, his meat obsession is legendary. Anyway, I overheard Klahadore ordering his second in command to have the whole gang attack the village. Then it wouldn’t seem strange if Kaya also died in the attack, and he would inherit all her money because they would force her to write that in her will before killing her. Then Kuro could peacefully retire when he was finally rich." 

Usopp sighed. “Of course I immediately ran to the village to warn everyone that a gang was going to attack come dawn, but nobody believed me... In fact they finally seemed completely fed up with me. Except for Luffy, Nami and Zoro, they did believe me and I will forever be grateful for it. We spend the entire night setting up traps all around the village. I was determined to make sure that my warning about an attack on the village would become a lie.” 

He looked briefly sad. “Even Kaya thought I lied.” 

“Then Kuro’s gang attacked. We all fought, it was pretty brutal. Kaya also showed up, Kuro’s second in command, Jango, was going to hypnotize her into writing a will or something. They kidnapped her basically." Usopp shook his head. “The man was a moron though, he kept putting people to sleep by hypnotizing them, but whenever he did, he fell asleep as well.” 

Marco could feel his own eyebrows rise. “He... also hypnotized himself? To fall sleep?” 

Usopp grinned at him. “Yeah, he was really weird. We actually ran into him that day, though we had no idea who he was until I overheard him and Kuro that night." 

“I managed to rescue Kaya from Jango, then Luffy finally managed to knock Kuro unconscious. We tied them all up, Nami had knocked a couple of men unconscious as well and Zoro took out the strongest of Kuro’s gang. The Government showed up to arrest them, but nobody in town even noticed. Kaya was the one who called them. They arrested the whole gang right then and there." 

Usopp snorted somewhat bitterly. “Kaya is rich, so the Government all but jumped to do her bidding. It’s a good thing that Kaya is a good person, because all that money makes her pretty powerful.” 

“That’s how I met Luffy basically, he asked me to go on Road Trips with him pretty much straight after the battle. My dream is to become a brave traveller so, that worked out perfectly." 

Usopp looked at the unconscious boy on the bed, he always seemed larger than life, but now he seemed... very small. “Luffy’s amazing, he saved all of us in one way or another.” Then the long-nosed boy’s phone went off. “Hello? Ah Kaya, yes he’s still unconscious. Law was the one who did the surgery so that’s good..." He headed off to talk to his childhood friend. 

Ace looked at Marco sadly. “I had no idea, did we really drift so far apart?" Marco tugged him into a loose embrace. “It’s not your fault, you love each other and that’s more than enough. You try to spend time with him whenever you can, so don’t beat yourself up over it. It sounds like most of these things happened during Road Trips. You had no way of knowing that Luffy’s general beat-up-a-jerk stories were a little more complicated than they seemed.” 

Ace sighed. “I guess so." 

* * *

“Vivi-sama, how do you know Luffy. If I may ask?" Sabo looked at the delicate blue haired princess. It was strange, seeing her here in his little brother’s hospital room and not on television. 

“You can just call me Vivi Sabo-san, a brother of Luffy-san is definitely a friend of mine." She smiled sadly. “I just hope Luffy-san pulls through again." 

The princess seemed to contemplating how to start the outlandish tale. “I was infiltrating Baroque Works when we met. My cover was blown pretty soon after that though, and Nami-chan offered to escort me back to Alabasta for a million berries. We became friends though, so eventually she waved the protection fee." 

Koala’s eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. “You demanded a protection fee?! From a genuine Princes?” She asked Nami, shocked at the audacity of the redhead. 

She answered, a little bit indignant. “We were in the middle of a Road Trip, and do you have any idea what feeding Luffy costs?” At that Sabo had to laugh. “That’s reasonable then.” He grinned. 

Vivi smiled as well, before picked up her story again. “We were a pretty long way from Alabasta though, so we stopped at some other places as well. It was a straight line, because Alabasta was about to be caught up in a rebellion. That was all a setup by Crocodile though..." Vivi still frowned at the mere mention of the man who had almost caused her country to collapse in chaos. 

“Nami got sick, very sick. I told them to make the detour to a doctor. I couldn’t condone risking a life for my country, what kind of Princess would that make me? The Strawhat Road Trip crew all helped me defeat Baroque Works and Luffy even managed to beat up Crocodile. Of course the entire story involves crossing a desert, spies, deserters, the royal army and the rebels but that isn’t the point.” 

Vivi smiled at them, and it was like seeing the sun breaking through the clouds. “You asked me how I know Luffy-san. He saved me, and then he saved my entire country. I can never repay him. He’s amazing.” 

She frowned thoughtfully. “Luffy-san taught me that I can’t do everything by myself, but that everything is possible with friends who you believe in. I tried to do it all myself, even after the Strawhats vowed to help me.” 

She grinned somewhat embarrassed. “Eventually half way across the desert Luffy-san refused to move anymore. He said that I had to at least risk their lives as well.” With a fond look she thought back to it. “He even hit me over it, he wanted to make it clear that we were friends now, all of the Strawhats were going to help me, so I should at least allow them to carry part of my burden as well." 

Sabo grinned somewhat pained. “That does sound like Luffy. If he cares at all, he cares to the extreme. I don’t think he has any sense of self preservation." 

Vivi nodded, tears glistening in her eyes. “We all love him though, so we will just have to try to be there to make sure he doesn’t get his fool-self killed doing something extremely dangerous.” 

* * *

Ace turned towards the tall man in the corner who had apparently operated on Luffy. “So how do you know Luffy? Law, was it?" 

The tattooed male smirked briefly. “Trafalgar D. Water Law, Portgas-ya and I suppose I know Luffy-ya because I made an alliance with him. I heard about him defeating several dictators and I hoped he might be able to help me with my plan to take out my own... pest." 

“Then Longnose-ya informed me that Luffy considers an Alliance to be a friendship and before I knew it I had been dragged into Luffy-ya's pace and all my plans were gloriously destroyed.” 

Ace sighed. “All I’m getting from this is that Luffy is a fool with too much power and a heart of gold. Maybe I should have kept a closer eye on him. Those Road Trips of his suddenly don’t sound like such a good idea at all.” 

Law raised a very unsubtle eyebrow. “And doom that many people. You are underestimating Luffy-ya's impact. The amount of people who lead better lives, or even lives at all just because of Luffy-ya is astronomical. All we can really do is be dragged along for the ride. He’s not stupid, he just has a very clear view of what is and is not acceptable. Oppressing people isn’t. Which explains the saved countries he leaves in his wake.” 

Ace’s eyes softened. “I’m very proud of him." 

At that Law smiled, a quicksilver genuine flash of happiness. “Luffy-ya is pretty great." 

Then a low voice interrupted them suddenly. “He’s waking up.” Zoro exclaimed loudly. 

Everyone in the room turned towards Luffy’s hospital beds, like flowers gravitating towards the sun. The boy finally managed to open his eyes, looking around drowsily. “Meat?” He managed to utter drowsily. 

When he finally looked around he brightened considerably. “Hey, what is everyone doing here?" 

Law stepped up to the bed to reply drily. “You were in a car accident, I had to operate on you Luffy-ya. They’re all here because they were incredibly worried. Also, did you forget to tell you brothers about the Strawhat Road Trip Crew’s adventures?" 

Luffy’s eyes widened in innocent confusion. “No? I told them all about the things we saw and the people we met and how awesome the trips were?” 

At that they all had to laugh, trust Luffy to think that the new friends he made and the amazing things he had seen were far more important than the dictators and other extremely dangerous people he had run into. 

“Hey Torao, thanks for taking care of me. Now I just need some meat and I’ll be just fine." The man’s smirk briefly transformed into a smile. “You’re welcome. You’re allowed to eat Sanji’s cooking, I gave him the list with the restrictions for this week while you’re recovering.” 

Luffy cheered. “Awesome, Sanji’s food is the best.” Everything quickly devolved into a party from there on. Law performed a quick check-up. When he pronounced that Luffy would recover completely, they were all extremely glad that Luffy would be fine now. 

* * *

Afterwards, when only Ace and Sabo were left Luffy only had one questions. “So what do you think about my nakama? Aren’t they great?” There was a huge grin on his face, but they both sensed the minor anxiety. Luffy didn’t need their approval, and if they did disapprove he wouldn’t drop any of his friends for them. But he did care for their opinion. He wanted the most important people in his life, his brothers and his nakama, to get along after all. 

Sabo smirked, gently ruffling Luffy’s raven hair. “Yeah, they are pretty great. All of them seem really protective and loyal.” 

Ace smiled, patting his shoulder. “They’re good friends Luffy, I’m glad they were there for you when we couldn’t be.” 

Luffy smiled, content and sleepy now. Yeah, his family and his nakama had finally met and they even got along. Aside from that car accident, this had in fact been a pretty great day. 


End file.
